Fire
by With Death Comes More Death
Summary: In the larger scheme of things, all fires are the same. They don't change all too much from instance to instance. Change what it feeds off of, however, and then everything changes. (AU, Crossposted on AO3)


**Mandatory Disclaimer:** I don't own My Hero Academia in any way, shape, or form.

…

 **Chapter 1 | Midoriya Izuku: Origin.**

…

Slowing gradually from a dead run to a dead stop, the palms of Midoriya Izuku's hands found their way onto his knees as his entire body bent itself over from exhaustion. The fourteen-year-old boy's lungs felt like they were on fire, but that wasn't what was bothering him. His lungs being on fire was something that he could deal with, it being a fairly normal experience for him. No, it was the fatigue in the rest of his body that caused him to slow him down.

Breath coming in and out of his nostrils in elongated drags, thick beads of sweat falling down his forehead, the fourteen-year-old reached up with his right hand and used it to wipe away some of the liquid that was dripping down from his curly, dark green hair. His dark green eyes practically jumped out of his skull in joy when he did so, as the sweat getting into his eyes was beginning to bother them to no end.

After the pools of dark green were free from all sweat, Izuku straightened his bent body and started to take stock of his current surroundings. It seemed that his early afternoon run had led him into one of the downtown areas of Musutafu, which was only really evident to him because of all the multi-floor buildings and shops with their shut off, neon signs hanging over their doors.

 _Huh? How did I get all the way out here? Just how long have I been running for?_ His right hand automatically traveled down into his shorts pocket to pull out his phone. When it was in his hand, he activated the screen. _I just hope that I didn't get too caught up in— 4:47?!_ _I've been running for an hour? Crap, crap…._

Izuku frantically shoved his phone back into his pocket and began looking at the shops around him, mind frantic with thoughts of how to get back home from where he was. In his rush, his eyes were naturally drawn towards the shops around him, darting from business to business.

 _Ah, wait, I'm in the business center!_ Eyes wide in realization, Izuku smiled, or at least, he made an attempt to. That attempt was very quickly snuffed out by the realization that he was standing in the business center of downtown at 4:47 PM, causing his smile to freeze halfway through and turn into an open-mouthed frown of despair. _Oh no, I'm in the business center!_ His head started to whip back and forth. _I need to get out of here before the evening rush hits—_ He cupped his chin with his fingers and dug his eyes hard into the ground. — _but how?_

Having been in the business center countless times with his mother, imaginary lines began to form inside Izuku's head, all of which detailing routes he and his mother had taken in, out, and through his current location. General times that he remembered accompanied each and single route as well, and soon enough, what he was looking for highlighted itself in his mind.

Eyes wide, Izuku snapped his head towards the direction he needed to head in and took a deep breath into his nostrils, allowed it to settle for a few moments, and then let it back out through his nostrils once again. Nodding his head, he soon began to move in the direction that his desired route required, moving at the same pace that had gotten him here in the first place.

* * *

"Ah, Izuku, you're back!" Izuku didn't know what he expected when he unlocked the front door of his family's apartment, but he kicked himself for not thinking of his mother. "Did you know how worried I was when you didn't come back at the usual time?"

A warm smile found its way onto his lips. "At least let me open the door, mom!"

Pushing open the door, Izuku found himself being smothered by the giant bundle of fluff and warmth that was his mother, Midoriya Inko, which he didn't mind at all. It had always been his mother's way of showing him he cared, and what was there to dislike about that?

Hands raised up to her collarbone, his mother's short, round body trembled violently, thick tear bubbles already forming in her large, round green eyes. The sight didn't bother him much as it was, in fact, a very common sight to see when it came to his mother.

"Hey, mom." Usually, Izuku would be flashing his mother a reassuring smile like he always did, but seeing that he came in with one already on his face, he just closed his eyes and started to scratch at the back of his neck. "Sorry about being late again." His eyes opened and immediately cast themselves off to the side. "I ended up losing track of the time again…."

The worry in his mother's expression faded a little bit at that, which naturally made him relax into a much more neutral, relaxed stance as well. "Izuku, I know that you're serious with your training, but how many times have I told you now? If you're going to run late—."

"—Text you." The boy in question, having been through this certain ringer way too many times before, finished his mother's sentence for her. His eyes still firmly cast off towards the wall beside him. "I know, I know." He glanced back at his mother and flashed her a smile. "I'll be sure to next time, I swear."

Izuku's mother opened her mouth, but she paused all of a sudden, waiting a second before closing it back up again. Instead of speaking, she let out a sigh that made the thirteen-year-old frown. It wasn't something that he was used to hearing. "Well, if you promise…."

"I do and I mean it." He donned a more solid expression and looked straight into his mom's eyes as he said that. Not a second later, he bowed his head. "I'm sorry for making you worry so much, mom."

His mother's eyes widened and her mouth hung slightly open for a few seconds before she flashed a reassuring smile of her own. "Now, now, no need to get all serious on me. Come on, let's go eat dinner. I made you your favorite."

Izuku's head shot up at that. Normally, after what just happened, it'd be to counter what his mom was saying, but this time, he did so because of excitement.

"Pork cutlet bowls?!" His mother nodded and Izuku practically shot into the dining room.

"It got cold while you were gone, so make sure to heat it up!" Izuku heard his mother yell that out, but he was already long gone at that point.

* * *

Steam now emanating from his food, Izuku picked his bowl off of the metal rotating plate before him, not even flinching at the heat that the thick, green and white ceramic was giving off. Chopsticks already in hand, he turned on a heel and made the short trip over to the Midoriya family dining table, hands wrapped firmly around the meal that his mother made him.

Placing aforementioned meal down onto the table, he pulled a chair out and settled himself down onto it, before then putting his chopsticks in between the palms of his hands and bringing them up to head level. He then closed his eyes and bowed his head ever so slightly. "Thanks for the meal!"

Soon enough, the food in the bowl began finding its way into Izuku's mouth as his ravenous, exercise-driven hunger took over all his actions. When his mouth could no longer fit any more food inside of it, he leaned back and chewed it with his eyes closed. His mind was enraptured with all the beautifully savory flavors that were hitting his taste buds, all of which familiar, but all of which still just as exciting as the first time he tasted them.

Swallowing hard, Izuku opened his eyes back up and focused them back onto the bowl. He reached out with his chopsticks, fully intent on getting more food to shove into his mouth, but stopped when he heard the all too familiar sound of a breaking news announcement coming from the family TV.

Leaning and turning his body so that he could see the TV, Izuku's eyes were immediately drawn towards the text in the graphic at the bottom of the screen, which read: "BREAKING NEWS: VILLAIN ATTACK ON ARCADE IN HOSU CITY, HEROES ON ROUTE!"

Izuku's attention instantly became glued to the TV set at the mention of a villain attack, but when 'heroes' were mentioned, it was like there was nothing else in the world that mattered to him on a mental level. Physically, however, his body still kept putting food into his mouth and consuming it as he was still starved for it, but he was barely conscious of it at that point.

There, on the screen, was a male reporter in a helicopter. His back to a closed helicopter door as he explained the situation. Apparently, an argument broke out in a local arcade between a man and the staff, which eventually turned violent. As he explained, the feed suddenly cut to a camera that was either being pointed directly out the helicopter's window down towards the ground or was mounted somewhere on the aircraft itself. Izuku could only blink in response to what he was being presented with, not quite understanding just how an argument at the arcade turned into what it was now.

Standing on a rooftop, there was a man with his arms splayed out to the side, several electronic devices of various size floating around him: vending machines, microwaves, even arcade machines. The man, who Izuku presumed to be the aforementioned villain in this situation (as he seemed to be cackling maniacally), was one of a much more rotund nature, sporting a belly that'd rival Fatgum. He wore a stained, white graphic t-shirt, though the boy couldn't see what was exactly on the shirt due to the camera being too far away.

 _Hm… I haven't seen someone with a quirk like that before, not even on any of the forums about more obscure heroes and villains. He must be a new villain._ The thought was primarily an assumption at first, but assumptions soon turned into certainties when the green haired boy took into account the fact that the man had no facial covering to speak of. _Well, he might just not care about showing his face, but why would he attack alone then? Even if he has a powerful quirk, there's no way he's going to be able to get out of this._

It did, however, occur to Izuku that the man wasn't thinking about the situation rationally. The reporter did mention that the entire situation was caused by an argument, after all. _But what could happen at an arcade that could possibly cause someone to go crazy like that?_

Before he could come up with an answer to that question, his musings were cut off by the TV reporter. "Ah, I've just gotten word from the ground that a hero has made it to the scene!"

Just then, the camera panned down and away from the villain, right towards a figure that Izuku could've recognized from miles away and when he did, his eyes widened in admiration. It was the figure of one of his favorite heroes. He was a man who inspired him to do all that he did; a man who taught him to endure, no matter what obstacle you were faced with; a man whose fire burned big and bright to slay the approaching darkness: the Flame Hero, Endeavor.

* * *

 _So, this is the 'villain' that's been giving all the other heroes trouble?_ Todoroki Enji let out an unimpressed snort as he stalked up to the villain that he was sent to subdue. He found himself becoming more and more unimpressed at the sheer sight of the rotund man.

Enji only needed to look at the rampaging man for a second to understand. The 'villain' standing before him, arms stretched out to his sides and quirk flaring wildly, wasn't a villain at all. He was nothing more than a man with a powerful quirk, whose violent temper tantrum had gotten out of his hand. The number two hero could tell just off how he looked, and when he said that, he wasn't referring to the man's appearance.

Yes, the man didn't look like someone Enji would label as a 'dangerous villain'. Firstly, the way he dressed painted him out to be someone who lived a life of childishness, inactivity, and sloth. His clothes were made up of a wrinkled, disheveled black shirt with some cartoon woman on its front; tan cargo shorts that were equally as wrinkled and was covered with various colored stains; and a pair of white and black sneakers that were impossibly clean when compared to the rest of his clothing. If that wasn't enough of an indicator, his hair was black, long, greasy, and somehow a mess despite being tied up into a ponytail. Secondly, and most telling of all, he didn't hold himself with any confidence. He was shaking with not just anger and excitement, but fear as well.

 _So, this is nothing more than a young man's temper tantrum then?_ Enji's conclusion fell in line with what he had been told about the situation over the phone earlier. Apparently, this all originated from an argument at a local arcade, though the number two hero was baffled as to how a simple argument escalated into an incident of this magnitude.

"You!" The disheveled man pointed a finger at the Flame Hero. "Are you here to keep me from achieving my love as well?!"

Enji stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at that. He did not like where this conversation was going already.

"You are, aren't you?!" The 'villain' ceased his pointing and stomped on the ground, arms thrown back behind him. "You're going to try and keep us apart! First, it was those idiots that kept me from getting what I needed to woo her heart! And now, the pro heroes are conspiring to keep me from eternal joy? Well, I won't let you! Not if my name isn't, Joudan Kagami!" It was then, that the machines floating around the babbling man began to converge in on him, scratching and slamming up against one another, one after the other, to create a vaguely human-like form that towered over the number 2 hero. Unfortunately, the man's head was still exposed. "She will be mine and not even the number 2 hero—"

 _Hmph, enough of this nonsense._ Willing his flames to flare from out his shoulders, Enji raised the palms of his hands to face the 'villain' and released. The machinery-covered man flinched at the act and immediately, three of the black lines coming out of his head pulled a trio of microwaves inwards to surround it.

Endeavor released his flames onto the completely armored man, limiting himself to a power output of twenty-five percent as he knew outright burning the man alive would do the hero no favors in this situation.

" _Bwah_!" Joudan raised his arms just in time to block the flames. "You think that these puny flames are going to break through the impenetrable barrier of my special move: MAKESHIFT MARTYR MECHA OF MADNESS!"

Snorting to himself, Enji increased the output of his power slightly, adding just enough so that his flames would conform to the armor's arms and slip past them.

"Ha!" Joudan began to move forward with his arms up, but due to the force of the fire hitting him, his progress was slowed to a stomp per two seconds. Just enough time for Endeavor's plan to take effect. "Yes, yes! Keep trying to break through my defenses Flame Hero!" A nasally, echoing laugh rang out through the air as the machine's body arched forward. "The more you struggle, the stronger I—! Why is it getting so hot all of a sudden?"

Enji couldn't help the smirk that split his face as he continued to pour his flames on Joudan's upper body, which began to glow a faint, dull red-orange color. That dull glow continued to grow brighter and brighter as the flame hero's onslaught continued, becoming a brilliant bright yellow in a matter of moments.

"Ah! Hot, hot, hot!" The 'villain' took a step away from the oncoming fire. "Why does it burn so? Is it your fire? How is it getting through my impenetrable armor?"

Seeing his victory in sight, Endeavor cut off his flames and shot forwards, his foot leaving a small, melted crater in the ground as he exerted the force necessary to be directly under the metal monstrosity in a second's time.

" **FLASHFIRE!** " Opens palms facing out towards the legs of his adversary, Enji began to will fire to shoot out as fast as possible. " **DUAL JET BURN!** "

Two thick beams of concentrated flame cut clean through the legs of Joudan's armor like a laser beam, chopping the monstrosity down. Mountain of metal now falling forwards onto Endeavor, the flame hero reached his flaming hand up and began to focus his flames onto the tips of his fingers. " **FLASHFIRE—** " Thinner beams of fire erupted from his fingers and began to cut through the falling debris, all the while Enji kept his eyes on where he last saw the villain. "— **HELLSPIDER!** "

Soon enough, the rotund man that was controlling the giant suit of armor was exposed to the world once again. When he saw the man emerge, the number two hero cut the flames off once again, wrapped the fingers of his left hand around the entirety of Joudan's head, turned, and slammed the 'villain' into the concrete under them. He had planned to hold it there until the man stopped struggling, but he very quickly realized that his adversary wasn't fighting back, or moving at all.

Removing his hand from around the man's head, Endeavor found that the slam had knocked him unconscious. He let out a snort as he grabbed the now defeated 'villain' by the back of his shirt and lifted him with the hand that defeated him.

* * *

"And just like that! With three simple attacks, Endeavor has bested the villain that was giving the other heroes so much trouble!" Izuku could barely hear the reporter's excited yelling over the sound of his pencil going over paper rapidly. "Now, that is the decisiveness one can only see from the likes of the number two hero!"

"Ah, that strategy Endeavor used…. Instead of trying to blast through the villain's armor, he used his fire to superheat the metal it was made out of." Izuku used his free hand to turn to the next page in his notebook, before then reallowing his pencil to blaze graphite trails on the paper. "The sudden rise in temperature must've thrown off the villain's focus, allowing Endeavor to get close and disable him. Does that mean Endeavor also noticed the same thing about the guy that I did earlier and used that inexperience to his advantage."

Getting his last thoughts on the encounter down on his page, Izuku quickly shut the composite notebook and jumped up from his space at the dining room table, sprinting off to his room despite his earlier fatigue.

Door already open due to him having run inside to get the notebook in the first place, he grabbed the door handle on his way in and slammed it as delicately as possible, already knowing what could happen if he slammed it too hard. Custom nameplates were a hard thing to come by, especially in the design he wanted.

Running over to the side of his room dedicated entirely to Endeavor, Izuku made his way to the shelf that held all of his Flame Hero memorabilia. Kneeling down to the lowest shelf, which was where he kept all of his Endeavor related notebooks, he slotted the one in his hand into the empty slot at the very end of it.

A smile now plastered all over his face, Izuku stood back up, hands planted on his sides. His dark green eyes went over every piece of his collection, which filled all six levels of the dark navy blue wooden structure to the brim. He started from the top, where he kept all of his rather less important memorabilia like Endeavor-themed headwear and pennants. The middle areas were where he kept his figurines, all of which ordered by their date of release, a fact that made itself apparent by the gradual changes in Endeavor's costume designs. The bottom and final shelf was reserved for his aforementioned notebooks.

 _Hm…_ The fourteen-year old's eyes were immediately drawn to the lack of space that sat next to the notebook he just put back. _I'm beginning to run out of room…. Where could I…?_

Izuku glanced around at the rest of his bedroom and wondered just where he could make more space. He, however, stopped himself when he realized that there was no way that was going to happen. Not without shifting some stuff from the Endeavor side to the All Might side at the very least, and that just wasn't going to be possible.

Mind still focused on trying to fix his space problem, Izuku nearly jumped when he heard a soft thud come from his left. In response to that, he snapped his head over to where the noise had come from and frantically sought out what had created it. When he found it, he just stared at it for several seconds, blinked, and then glanced up to the spot on his wall where it should've been. There, in the middle of where his various All Might and Endeavor posters met, was an empty space.

Wondering about how it fell in the first place, Izuku made his way over to it and squatted down to pick it up. Turning it in his hand, he looked for anything that may have caused it to fall from its perch on his bedside wall.

The object in his hand was a simple picture frame-a frame that had a stand but didn't have one anymore, hence Izuku having to hang it on his wall in the first place. It was a simple, brown wooden picture frame. Inside of it, there was a picture of a younger, probably five-year-old, version of himself clad in an Endeavor onesie in the park that he spent a lot of his childhood playing in, standing with his arms crossed. He couldn't help but smile at how his younger self was very clearly trying to imitate his idol's trademark scowl but was failing to do so on a grand level.

Izuku's immediately eyes drifted over to his younger self's left, where a blonde-haired, red-eyed young boy stood in an All Might onesie. He was standing on top of a nearby jungle gym; right hand on his hip, the other pointing up towards the sky, and mouth forming a toothy smile that was the boy's best imitation of the hero he was dressed as.

 _Ah, right! This was from the Halloween after Kacchan and I manifested our quirks…._ The corners of his own lips threatened to curl upward even more at the thought, but they faltered and fell before it was even halfway complete.

Letting a slow breath out through his nostrils, Izuku stood up and walked over to the shelf at the end of his bed, in which he kept all of his school materials in. Placing the picture onto it face down, he immediately threw his fatigued body onto his bed back first, both of his hands resting under his neck. He stared up at the ceiling long enough for his eyes to become heavy-so heavy that they slipped shut on their own.

* * *

" _Kacchan! Kacchan!" Izuku ran up to the spiky-haired blonde as he entered the preschool's courtyard with the two boys that liked to follow him around. "It's here! It's finally here_ — _my quirk! It's finally here!"_

" _Oh yeah, Deku? Finally got yourself a quirk? Took you long enough." With his arms crossed and face frowning, Kacchan put a hand out towards him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Show us, though I know it can't be as good as mine, knowing a Deku like you."_

 _Nodding his head, Izuku turned off to his side where no one was standing, shut his eyes, and breathed in through his nostrils deeply._

"Oi, Deku!" Izuku nearly jumped off the stairs that he was on when he was suddenly called out to. He recognized the owner of the voice without even looking to see who it was. "What in the fuck are you doing?"

"K-Kacchan?!" Head snapping over towards where the voice had come from, Izuku found one Bakugou Katsuki stomping up to him. "What are you doing here? Isn't it super late!"

Katsuki blinked at him, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed in a glare. "Oh, would you keep your shit together, Deku." Hands stuffed deep into his pockets, he glanced off to his side and then back him. "It's only ten o'clock, and what the fuck are you doing on the stairs? Actually, what the fuck are you even doing? You're all sweaty and shit, and what's up with the mask? You look like some sort of wannabe villain."

"O-Oh, this?" Pointing to the navy blue mask that covered the lower part of his face, Izuku very quickly realized that his words were coming out extremely muffled. Upon ripping it off his face, he proceeded to close his eyes, let out a chuckle, and scratch at the back of his head. "It's an exercise mask. Y'know, the kind that restricts the amount of oxygen you can take in."

"An air restriction mask? You know those things don't do jack shit, right?"

Taking a moment to glance off to his side, Izuku lowered his hand back down to his side. "I mean, yeah, they don't really do what people say they do, but they still do help strengthen my diaphragm."

"That right?" Katsuki shrugged his shoulders. "It working?"

"H-Huh?" Eyes wide, Izuku's head snapped over to his blonde childhood friend.

"I fucking stutter?" Katsuki's eyes narrowed at that. "Is it actually doing shit, or are you just wasting your time?"

"Oh, um… Yeah, I guess you can say that." Fingertips being pressed into one another, Izuku glanced down at the ground. "It's helped with how fast I can breathe out. Add that with all the breathing exercises I do, my output with my quirk—."

"—Alright, alright, I get it! You don't need to talk my goddamn ear off." Shaking his head, Katsuki started to make his way towards Izuku. The blonde only stopping when he was standing right next to him at the bottom of the narrow stairway. "Your mom home?"

Mouth still open, Izuku blinked and stared at his childhood friend for a few seconds. "Y-Yeah, why? Does your mom need something from her?"

Katsuki let a snort out through his nostrils, turning back to what was in front of him. "You think I have another reason to be here, Deku?"

"Well… no?"

"Exactly." Without saying another word, Katsuki began climbing the stairs.

Izuku turned to look away from his blonde friend, shook his head, and let a breath out through his nostrils. Looking back up to what was in front of him, he reached down and slipped his air restriction mask back over his mouth, meaning to restart his workout. That, however, was stopped when he heard his childhood friend call out to him.

"Yo, Deku!" Izuku turned to look over his shoulder at Katsuki, who was now standing at the top of the stairway, not even looking back at him. "You remember that park where we used to hang out at back in the day? Drag your ass there. You and I are gonna have a word."

Gulping at the blonde's words, Izuku watched as Katsuki made his way out of sight.

* * *

Izuku fiddled with his thumbs as he sat on the bench, a small chill running through him as an early spring night breeze cooled the sheen of sweat that coated his body.

"Oi, Deku." Looking up towards where the voice had come from, Izuku's eyes met with the only person who still used that nickname for him.

"Oh, hey, Kacchan." The green-haired boy watched as his blonde childhood friend walked up to him, two plastic grocery bags in hand. Turning to look away from him, Izuku began to scratch at his cheek with his index finger. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I hear from your mom that you aced your mock hero test at school…." Izuku's eyes snapped back onto Katsuki the moment he asked that question. "That mean you still planning on going to UA next year?"

Izuku felt himself frown and his eyes narrow. He simply nodded his head in response to that question.

"You said that your quirk's been getting stronger, right?" Izuku once again nodded. "Good. Mine's gotten much stronger too." Katsuki's trademark wide, toothy smile split his face as he pointed a thumb at himself. "We'll finally be able to settle things then."

Izuku opened his mouth, but eventually, he found himself closing it and casting his gaze down towards the ground, which caused Katsuki to huff.

"You better make it to UA, Deku!" Clenching his fists, Izuku glanced back up at the blonde and found that he was already walking away. "I'm not going to accept any shitty excuses! If you aren't fucking dead, then there's no reason you should fail!"

Izuku blinked at the disappearing figure of his childhood friend, scoffed, and smiled. He looked down and then back up towards the sky. There were only two stars up in the sky. They were right next to one another, one shining just a bit brighter than the one next to it and, of course, his eyes were drawn to the brighter one.

That was when Izuku noticed that both the stars were moving in opposite directions to one another and he felt a drop of sweat run down his forehead. _Wait, darn, those planes…._

* * *

Izuku let a breath out through his nostrils as he plopped down into his seat, school bag to the side of his chair. Reaching inside of it, he rifled around it for a few seconds, before eventually finding all that he needed.

Slipping out two notebooks and a pencil, Izuku placed them both onto his desk, one being meant for his classes and the other being for any observations he made about heroes/interesting quirks he saw throughout the day. He ripped the latter open and went to work transcribing what he witnessed at the subway overpass down, focusing mainly on the complexities of Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady's respective quirks. He already had a fair amount down about the wooden hero, but the giant heroine was a rather new face on the professional hero scene, making it so that any information about her quirk rather sparse—even online. _Her quirk must be really powerful, especially since her overall strength doesn't seem to be affected by her activating it, but she must have a hard time dealing with collateral damage—._

"Alright, alright!" Pencil stopping in its tracks, Izuku's head shot up when he heard his homeroom teacher call out to the class. The middle schooler blinked at the blonde man, before looking around at the rest of his classroom, feeling a bead of sweat run down the length of his forehead upon seeing it was completely full. "Settle down! I actually have something important to talk to you all about this time, so maybe you should all shut your mouths and actually listen!"

The room became dead silent and all eyes became screwed onto their teacher as he made his way over to his podium, eyes closed and hands hidden behind his back. "So, as you may already know, this year is going to be your last before you'll all need to start wondering about what you wanna do with your lives!"

"Now, I'd hand out some career aptitude tests, but…" The teacher lurched over his podium at the front of his class and planted a hand on a stack of papers. He remained like that for a few seconds before a smile cracked his stoic demeanor and he suddenly turned around, throwing all of the paper he was holding on into the air. "I already know you all wanna go down the hero track!"

The class around Izuku erupted at that, everyone firing up and showing off their respective quirks as they did so. Seeing this, Izuku simply smiled at his classmates' collective fervor and raised his hand so that it was slightly above his head.

"Yes, yes. You all have very impressive quirks, but no quirk usage in school." The teacher still had a smile plastered on his face. That smile, however, only lasted a few seconds before it turned into a much more serious expression. "That being said, I'm not going to sugar coat things at all. It's very likely that most of you aren't going to make the cut. Really, the only person here that I think has a chance is Midoriya, so remember to keep your options open."

The moment his name was mentioned, everyone in the class suddenly stopped and all heads turned to look at him. Izuku felt his spine stiffen up a little at all the attention—a reaction that wasn't helped by his location in the back center of the room, which made it so that a majority of his class was glaring daggers into him. "Didn't you say that you wanted to go to UA?"

"Uh… Y-Yeah!" The green-haired boy smiled a crooked and shaky smile and started to scratch at the back of his head. "I mean, I'll go to any hero school that takes me, but of course UA is my goal!"

"Well, you do have some really high test scores…" The teacher kept his head down, eyes fully focused on a piece of paper that he had in hand. "Not to mention that quirk of yours…."

Izuku let out an awkward chuckle as his teacher praised him. It wasn't that such praise was new to the boy, but the animosity in the eyes of his classmates was something he still didn't get used to.

" _Pft, why care about what those plebs think! Don't you know, Deku? They aren't even close to on our level, so they're always going to talk shit! So, why even give them any attention?"_ Izuku couldn't help but have those words play out through his head and again, all he could do was chuckle a little and shake his head at them.

"Hey! He's laughing!" A random classmate of his called out, making Izuku stiffen even more. Looking around for who spoke, he found that he couldn't see her in the chaos that surrounded him. "What? You looking down on the rest of us!"

"You think you're so hot just because you got a flashy quirk?! I'll knock that smile off your face!"

"No, no! I wasn't mocking any of you!" Shooting up from his desk, Izuku tried his best to soothe the angry crowd that was forming around him. "I was just—"

"Okay, quiet down everyone!" The teacher cut Izuku before he could finish. He was thankful for it, however. The blonde man had much more authority than he did, which caused the crowd to stop harassing him. "I'm sure Midoriya gets all of your points. Now, let's get down to business."

Izuku could only sink down into his desk when the chaos finally subsided, letting a long breath out through his nose in a mixture of embarrassment and relief. While his classmates were no longer outright voicing their disdain for him, he could still feel it in the air and it pinned him down onto his desk like All Might himself was sitting on his shoulders.

 _Today's going to be a long day…._

* * *

Hands wrapped firmly around the straps of his backpack, Izuku dragged himself down the path behind the school that led to the street that would take him back to his apartment building. Eyes cast downwards, his mind immediately drifted back to how his classmates reacted to his dream of going to UA.

 _I wasn't even trying and they all still thought that I was making fun of them._ He frowned as a mental image of Katsuki popped into his head, his prideful and mocking smirk gracing his lips. Izuku let out a nasal huff. _I should really stop thinking about Kacchan's advice when I'm around other people, all it seems to do is piss people off._

Looking up towards the sky, Izuku's eyes were immediately drawn towards the specks of pink that swayed down from the cherry blossom trees that lined the street he was walking down. He stared at them up until the point that he had to pass under an overpass.

 _Wait…_ Izuku stopped dead in his tracks, body stiff and expression troubled. _Wouldn't what just happened prove Kacchan's point?_

As the middle schooler contemplated the accuracy of his childhood friend's advice, Izuku's ears perked up when he heard a noise coming from behind him. It was distinctly slimy in texture, almost as if someone was pouring slime down next to a microphone.

Turning around to see what was creating it, Izuku's eyes widened and his body instinctively took a step backward. There, coming up from the holes in a manhole cover, was a giant blob of dark green sludge. As the blob continued to grow larger and larger, growing so large that it began to touch the underside of the bridge, the curly-haired teen noticed a pair of bloodshot eyes and a toothy grin suddenly slide their way into place at the top of the goopy mess. "A-A villain?!"

A deep, distorted chuckle came from the blob as he sneered at the boy. "A medium-sized invisibility cloak?"

Sensing the immense danger that was imminent, Izuku's feet began to move on their own and tried to take him away from the sentient mass of sludge, but before he could even manage three steps away from the villain. A heavy mass slammed itself onto his back, pinning him down to the ground. All over his body, he could slimy tendrils wrap around his limbs and as he tried to struggle against their hold, he found that all he managed to do was sink his arms into them.

"You can't struggle against me. I'm fluid!" The villain let out a laugh as he mocked his victim. "Thanks for this, kid. You're my hero."

 _Dammit! His body is too pliable! I can't—_ Before he could finish that thought, Izuku felt himself get picked up and turned so that he was looking up at the bottom of the bridge. _Now! Gotta breathe!_

Knowing that this was probably the only opportunity he was going to get, Izuku opened his mouth and took a deep breath in, but just as he finished doing so, one of the villain's eyes took up his entire vision. Soon enough, he felt something slimy begin to force its way into his mouth and nostrils, causing him to want to gag.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to take over your body." Forcing shut his eyes, Izuku did his best to keep himself from gagging as he knew that it'd only cost him precious air. "Calm down. This will only hurt for another 45 seconds. You'll feel better soon."

 _I need to breathe!_ Izuku focused all of his attention on his already expanded diaphragm.

* * *

 _Running up to the family computer, Izuku turned the office chair so that it was facing him and dragged his small body up onto it._

" _Come on, mom!" The young boy could barely control himself as he rocked back and forth in his chair, a wide smile still burned onto his face. "One more time!"_

" _Again?! You probably make up at least ten thousand of this video's views all on your own." His mother leaned over his shoulder, opened up YouTube, and navigated to aforementioned video. "It's a little too scary for mommy, though."_

 _When the video began playing, it was almost as if Izuku's hair was blown back from the sheer amazement of it._

" _ **Are you seeing this?!**_ " _There, on screen, was a crying, dirty man standing in the rubble of a destroyed cityscape. Taking the camera and zooming it onto a hulking, muscular man in blue and red spandex who stood on top a flipped over bus. As the camera focused, it became clear that he was carrying several people on his back. "_ _ **He's already saved a hundred people and it's only been ten minutes! WOW!**_ " _The camera zoomed even more and focused itself on his face. "_ _ **And he's smiling!**_ "

" _ **FEAR NOT!**_ " _A voice booming and confident rang from the speakers of the Midoriya family computer. "_ _ **WHY, YOU ASK? IT'S BECAUSE I AM HERE!**_ "

 _Izuku recoiled in his seat. "Wow! He's so cool! When I get my quirk, I wanna be just like him!"_

* * *

Izuku compressed his diaphragm as strong as he could manage. _I need to breathe! I need to breathe! I still need to—_

* * *

 _Izuku trudged up to his family's couch with his shoulders slumped, throwing his small, exhausted body onto its soft cushions with a soft plop._

" _Oh, don't be too hard on yourself, dear!" The young boy didn't pay much mind to his mom's attempts to reassure him as he sank into the couch. "You may not have gotten first, but you tried your best and isn't that all that matters?"_

 _Izuku tilted his head to look at his mom, then at the small statue made of silver in his left hand, and then back to directly in front of him. His eyes were pointed towards the family TV, but they weren't actually looking at anything._

 _As he continued to stare off into nothing, Izuku heard his mom let out a sigh._

" _Well, mommy's going to get dinner ready." Izuku's eyes tracked his mom as she walked over to the TV. "I'll make you your favorite, alright?" His mom pressed a button to turn it on. "Oh, I know! You could watch some TV, maybe All Might made the news again! That'd cheer you up, right?"_

" _Okay, mom…." The curly-haired nodded, but he already knew that he wasn't going to pay attention to the TV at all—._

" _ **Wow, and just like that, in less than two minutes, the number two hero has taken down almost all of the villains laying siege to Tokyo Tower!**_ " _A reporter's excited shouting shook Izuku from his daze. When his eyes snapped onto the screen, he found that he was staring at a man in a dark blue suit with bright orange flames burning all over his body, forming an 'x' over his chest. Most curiously enough, he even had fire burning from his face, acting like it was both a mask and facial hair. At his feet, all around him, were burned, but still breathing bodies. Izuku assumed them to be the villains the reporter was shouting about. "_ _ **Look at him, he's standing tall and acting as though it was nothing!**_ "

 _Izuku stared wide-eyed at the burning man as he glanced down at the pile of bodies he had created. He uncrossed his arms and suddenly smiled._

" _ **Hmph, pathetic! Is that all the challenge you so-called villains are going to pose me?!**_ " _The hero's voice boomed loud enough that the camera's microphone managed to pick it up, even from however far away it was. "_ _ **My goal is All Might! I'll burn through whoever it takes to reach him!**_ "

 _Izuku couldn't help but glance back down at the silver statue that sat beside him, before then turning his eyes back to the screen in awe of the number two hero in all Japan._

* * *

"To think _that_ had come to this— Wait, what in the hell?!" The slime that was trying to force itself into Izuku's mouth began to bubble. Slowly at first, but barely a second later, it started to bubble as if it were boiling. Being unable to bear the rise in temperature for any longer, the villain pried himself away from the young teen's head, all the while trying to piece together what just happened. "What? How did you—?"

Before the villain could finish asking, Izuku took another deep breath in through his mouth, arching his back as to let as much air into his lungs as possible. When he was satisfied with the amount he took in, the green-haired teen formed a small circle with his lips and blew out all that he accumulated down at his feet. Cheeks puffed, a stream of flame came spewing out of his mouth and slammed into the part of the slime villain that was holding onto the rest of his body.

When the fire came into contact with the slime, it immediately caused the villain to let loose its hold on him, allowing Izuku to fall down onto the asphalt. Landing roughly on his hands and knees, he assumed that it wouldn't take long for the villain to regain his composure and try to capture him again. He sucked in another deep breath and prepared another volley of flames to let loose onto the villain, but before he could do so, he was stopped by the sight of the manhole cover in which the slime came from suddenly fly up into the air. Moving with enough force to firmly lodge itself into the underside of the bridge they were under.

"FEAR NOT, KID!" An all too familiar booming voice erupted from the now open manhole. An instant later, a hulking, muscular figure came flying out from the sewers, right hand already primed in a fist. "FOR I AM HERE!"

"TEXAS—" What happened next all happened in an instant, one moment, Izuku was watching the newly arrived figure pull his fist back in preparation for a punch. The next, he felt something powerful fly directly over his head, making him want to flip backward, despite him being on his hands and knees. "—SMAAAASH!"

The green-haired boy tried to lower his head to keep himself from going flying, but the gust of the wind that the punch generated was too much for him to handle and he began to lift off from where he knelt. Before he could fly away, however, Izuku felt something grab onto the neck of his school blazer, keeping him from flying away.

When the gust finally subsided, Izuku felt his body start to sag in the man's grip due to the lack of air pressure pushing his body up and back. "Woah, there! Sorry, kid!" His feet suddenly found their way back onto the ground gently. "I didn't mean to send you flying like that."

Knowing that voice anywhere, Izuku opened his eyes and tentatively looked up, not quite believing what was going through his head. He needed to bend his neck backward to even look at the face of his savior. When his eyes finally fell upon that trademark smile, the boy felt all the air in his body leave from the sheer shock.

Knees suddenly feeling shaky and weak, Izuku sputtered out the name of the man who saved him. "A-A-All Might?!"

…

 **Chapter End.**

* * *

Yo, so this is what I have. As you can probably tell, this is going to be pretty AU. Hopefully, you don't mind the changes I made. I'm trying to be as original as I can be within reason.

If any of you are wondering why Izuku's a fan of both All Might and Endeavor, and not just Endeavor, well it's because I don't think that Izuku could want to be a hero and not love All Might in some fashion. It's, like, in his DNA to be a fanboy at this point. Also, people can have two favorite heroes. There's no rule saying that they can't.

Anyways, that's all. I'll try and update as soon as I can. I'm not a god tier writer who can pump out thousands of words in a few days, so give me like a month or two. Bye.


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